Building Schools for Africa

What Building Schools for Africa does

Building Schools for Africa is a UK-registered charity founded in 2007 and headquartered on the Isle of Wight with a six-person staff. It raises funds exclusively to support the construction and equipping of schools, health centres, and water and sanitation infrastructure in Cameroon, channeling 100% of donations to on-the-ground projects. Since inception the organization has raised over £2 million and reports completion of more than 100 schools.

The charity operates through an exclusive partnership with SHUMAS, a Cameroonian NGO founded by the late Stephen Ndzerem, which handles all field execution including community engagement, construction supervision, and project reporting. Programmatic work is organized around four pillars: Education, Health, Water, and Humanitarian Response (the last added after the mid-2010s regional crisis). Recent sub-initiatives include vitamin distribution, education-in-emergency programming, and ante-natal clinics, reflecting a modest broadening beyond purely capital construction.

The revenue model is 100% donation-based, with no earned income streams. Fundraising is delivered through the charity's website, social media, occasional events, and matched-funding campaigns such as the Big Give Christmas Challenge (which raised £55,000 in 2025). Corporate sponsorships have included Market Makers, Clymac, Gompels, and Sunesis. There is no product, platform, or proprietary technology component; the underlying operational "asset" is the long-standing SHUMAS partnership and the local trust and relationships it embodies.

Name

Building Schools for Africa

Legal name

Building Schools for Africa

Website

https://buildingschoolsforafrica.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2007

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Building Schools for Africa is a UK-registered charity that raises donations to fund school, health, water, and humanitarian infrastructure projects in Cameroon, delivered exclusively through its long-standing partnership with the Cameroonian NGO SHUMAS.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Humanitarian Development / Educational Infrastructure Non-profit

NAICS

Educational Support Services (611710), Grantmaking and Giving Services (81321)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300), Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

International Development & Donor-Funded Education Programs (EDADALAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Education Access & Quality (International Development) (BPAGABAE), NGO/Nonprofit Education Programs & Service Delivery (EDADALAC), Infrastructure, Housing & Community Development (BPAGABAL)

Keywords

• School construction charity
• Humanitarian development aid
• Clean water infrastructure
• Rural education programs
• Internally displaced persons relief

Headquarters

HQ city

Isle of Wight

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain, Others

Revenue model

1. Individual Donations: Direct monetary donations from individual supporters worldwide, typically through website PayPal links and campaign appeals. The charity reports 100% of donated funds go directly to projects.
2. Corporate Sponsorship: Funding from companies such as Sunesis, Market Makers, Clymac, Gompels Healthcare, Willmott Dixon, and others who fund specific school building projects, health centers, or water supplies.
3. Matched Funding Campaigns: The Big Give Christmas Challenge provides matched funding where donations are doubled through pledgers and champions, enabling campaigns like the 2025 challenge that raised £55,000 from matched contributions.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels10 records

Core offering

Building Schools for Africa is a UK-registered charity that raises donations to fund the construction of schools, health centres, and clean water supplies in rural Cameroon. All field projects are implemented exclusively through local partner NGO SHUMAS, with a participatory community model where villagers contribute labour and materials. The charity runs four programme pillars — Education, Health, Water, and Humanitarian Response for internally displaced persons (IDPs) — funded entirely by individual donors, corporate sponsors, and matched-giving campaigns.

Product overview

Building Schools for Africa is a UK-based charity that operates exclusively in Cameroon, funding development projects across four interconnected areas: Education (school building programs), Health (health centre construction and refurbishment), Water (clean drinking water supply), and Humanitarian Response (emergency relief for IDPs). The organization works exclusively through its partner NGO, SHUMAS (Strategic Humanitarian Services), to implement projects including classroom construction, health centre development, borehole drilling, and emergency aid distribution. The charity's model focuses on participatory development, requiring community contribution and ownership of projects.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• School Building Program Funding and construction of school classrooms (classroom blocks, furniture such as benches, tables and chairs, headteacher offices, and latrines) in rural Cameroonian communities lacking educational infrastructure. Implemented by partner NGO SHUMAS under a community participatory model where villagers contribute labour and local materials.
• Health Centre Construction and Refurbishment Building, refurbishing and equipping health centres in parts of Cameroon where medical facilities are inadequate or non-existent. Includes ante-natal clinics, maternity wards, general health centre upgrades, and provision of equipment and solar power for vaccine refrigeration.
• Clean Water Supply Projects Provision of constant clean drinking water for rural communities and for schools and health centres built by BSFA. Includes borehole drilling and water supply systems in dry regions such as Upper Munjong (4,000 beneficiaries) and Bagham.
• Humanitarian Response Program Emergency relief for internally displaced persons (IDPs) fleeing political conflict in NW and SW Cameroon, providing shelter kits, WASH kits, food, mattresses, mosquito nets, business training for women, and access to education for displaced children ('Education in Emergency').
• Vitamin Distribution Program Distribution of vital vitamins to pregnant women and malnourished young children in the NW region of Cameroon, addressing health crises arising from the political conflict and mass displacement. Reported reach: 7,500 pregnant women and 22,500 malnourished children.

Quantifiable outcome

• 139 classrooms built at 38 schools by 2012
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• International Communities Organisation (ICO)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2023ICO's goal is to be the leading international organisation working for peace and reconciliation in divided conflict settings with a special focus on enabling minority communities to participate in peace processes. Collaboration focuses on IDP support in Cameroon.
• Rotary International CanadaminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2017Collaborative partnership on the GSS Ichim school project in NW Region. First collaborative project between BSFA and Rotary International Canada.
• AidCamps InternationalminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2014Volunteer program where AidCamps volunteers travel to Cameroon to help with construction projects. Volunteers have helped at Mbveh village and other locations.
• SHUMAS (Strategic Humanitarian Services)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2007Exclusive partnership since 2007 with SHUMAS, a Cameroonian NGO led by founder Stephen Ndzerem (until his passing in January 2025). SHUMAS handles all on-the-ground implementation including construction management, community engagement, and project monitoring. The partnership has completed over 100 school projects, numerous health centres, and water supplies across Cameroon.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• CAMFED (Campaign for Female Education): UK- and US-headquartered nonprofit supporting girls' secondary education across sub-Saharan Africa. Comparable UK charity base, sub-Saharan Africa footprint, and education mission, though focused on scholarships and leadership rather than school construction.
• Room to Read: Large international education nonprofit operating literacy and girls' education programs across Africa and Asia. Comparable beneficiary focus (school-age children in low-income countries) and fundraising model, but operates at far greater scale with broader programmatic scope.
• Plan International UK: Major UK-based international development NGO operating children's education, health, and humanitarian programs in Cameroon and across Africa. Overlaps with BSFA on education access, water, and humanitarian response programming in the same regions.
• Concern Worldwide: Large Ireland/UK-headquartered international humanitarian and development NGO with active operations in Cameroon including emergency response. Comparable multi-pillar (education, health, water, humanitarian) model and donor base, though far larger in scale.

Direct peers

• BuildOn: US/UK-based nonprofit that builds schools in low-income countries across Africa and Asia. Most direct functional peer, with a comparable donor-funded school construction model, although it operates at significantly greater scale and across multiple countries.
• Street Child: UK-based charity focused on education access in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia, including school construction and emergency education programming. Closely comparable UK charity base, small operational team, and donor-funded school-building model.
• Sabre Education: UK-registered charity focused on improving access to quality education in Ghana and West Africa. Shares BSFA's UK charity base, Africa focus, and school-infrastructure mission, making it a strong functional and structural peer.
• African Schools Foundation: Small UK- and Netherlands-rooted charity funding school construction in Africa. Comparable size, mission, and donor-driven school-building approach, with some overlap on the Gered Gereedschap / tool-donation partner ecosystem.
• Pencils of Promise: Nonprofit funding school construction and education programs primarily in Africa and Asia. Closely comparable mission (building schools in underserved communities) and donor-driven model, though larger and more brand-recognised.

Others

• SHUMAS (Strategic Humanitarian Services): Cameroon-based implementing NGO and BSFA's exclusive partner since 2007. While not a peer in the fundraising sense, SHUMAS is the most directly comparable implementing organization on the ground, executing nearly identical education, health, and water projects across Cameroon's rural regions.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/BSFACameroon
• Facebookfacebook.com/buildingschools
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/building-schools-for-africa
• Instagraminstagram.com/bsfa_cameroon

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Building Schools for Africa